Celebrating books published in 2023, now finishing its fifth award cycle, the Whippoorwill Award continues to recognize quality rural literature for young people. Each year, the award committee selects books that portray and honor the complex experiences of rural culture and communities. The award serves to help highlight the diversity of rurality…

This qualitative study examined kindergarten children's responses to their favorite books and their perspectives on reading at home and school. Data included observations, interviews with teachers, parents, and children, and "My Favorite Book" response sheets completed by children. Children's favorite books reflected various genres,…

Background: The interactions between behavior, environment and personal factors are the basis of the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, A. 1986. "Social Foundations of Thought and Action." NJ: Prentice Halls). Within this theory, students' behavior and motivation toward an activity is dependent on their feelings, thoughts and beliefs…

Admissions officers practicing holistic admissions judge students' course taking based on what was available to them, yet how representatives learn about students' high school context and subsequently evaluate students' course rigor within it remains underexamined. Using signaling theory and effectively maintaining the inequality framework, we…

Critical K-12 educators who teach students to question the status quo have always faced censorship, rebuke, and potential loss of livelihood. This risk is particularly heightened in conservative areas, like Texas, where ideological opposition to equity often results in legislative threats to ban literature and censor curriculum that addresses…

In this empirical article, the author seeks to understand the question: What "productive tensions" (Wenger, 1998, p. 79) emerged as three humanities teachers worked to queer their teacher-developed literacy curriculum? The author returns to what it means to queer a curriculum in the findings and discussion. But first, it is important to…

The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned polling of young people who received results from their key stage 4 (KS4) or 16 to 19 studies in summer 2024, and the parents of young people who received their results in this period, on behalf of the Curriculum and Assessment Review. This polling was designed to gather young people's and parents'…

This article provides evidence and insight on the demand-side of graduate employment and selection through an investigation of employers' conceptions of what constitutes hireable and employable graduates. Drawing on evidence from a qualitative study with a diverse range of employers in the UK, the article shows that employers understand graduates'…

Schools are dynamic environments surrounded by static brick and mortar. Schools are a complex entanglement of systems clinging to normalcy led and composed of individuals seeking growth and progress. There is constant turnover as students move through the systems, gaining mastery, seeking support, and receiving guidance. Employees similarly move…

Gaps in advanced high school coursework by socioeconomic status and geography persist in the United States, even among students with the ability and access to succeed in them. Lack of information on course availability and inaccurate self-perceptions may contribute to these inequities. We report on a large-scale experiment designed to increase…

This paper explores the possible negative implications of teacher selected whole-class reads rooted within the traditional canon of English Language Arts instruction and possible solutions for re-engaging the disengaged adolescent reader through choice reading and the implementation of more culturally relevant texts. Historically, English Language…

This article relies on nonrepresentational narrative research to consider improvisational urban literacy. The author uses narrative to theorize the choice to teach "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" in urban high school English classrooms. The author positions this decision as the surprising result of an improvisational, urban literacy…

Utilising new empirical research this study adapts an existing literature-based competency framework into a hierarchy of competencies needed for education middle managers in England to be effective in their role. The study involved a national survey (n = 164) of further education middle managers and is the first quantitative study investigating…

In Germany, about half of the school-leavers -- irrespective of their school-leaving certificate -- start an apprenticeship instead of entering the labour market or university. Firms act as gatekeepers who influence which school-leavers start an apprenticeship. Previous studies have provided important information on the reasons firms train. By…

Presidential assistants are important and trusted staff members to the president and the campus community at large. Despite their importance, little is known about the day-to-day of their jobs and how they may help advance equity and social justice goals and priorities at the community college level. This chapter attempts to rectify this gap…